Robot to help child autism study

A robot with artificial skin is being developed as part of a project to investigate how robots can help children with autism to learn social interaction skills.

Researchers at the University of Hertfordshire’s School of Computer Science, led by Professor Kerstin Dautenhahn, form part of a European consortium working on a three-year project to develop a robot with skin and embedded tactile sensors.

Dr Ben Robins and his colleagues are now using the robot to encourage social interaction skills in autistic children.

It is the first time that this approach has been used, according to the Adaptive Systems research group, which is working on creating a child-sized humanoid known as Kasper.

New sensor technology, which will provide tactile feedback from different areas of the robot’s body, is being developed by Dr Daniel Polani and an artificial skin will be used to cover Kasper.

Researchers hope the robot will be capable of responding to different forms of child play and help youngsters develop appropriate interaction.

Professor Dautenhahn said that autistic children often have trouble with touch and the robot’s new skin combined with the tactile sensors will detect different types of touch and then encourage or discourage different approaches.

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